I thought it was interesting enough to write my first "meaningful" blog posting about it.
When you interact on twitter, there are several things that can happen (whether you like it or not):
A Tweet -A conversation between you and all of your followers
A @reply - A conversation between you and the person you reply to (Remember: all of your followers are listening too)
A Direct Message - A "private" conversation between you and a follower
ReTweet (RT) - A conversation about you or your content involving people that you might not know exist
Something that many people overlook is the immortality of content online. When you tweet something, it can live forever - even if you think it has been buried or deleted. There might be a conversation, years down the road, regarding something you tweeted or blogged about.
Twitter has handed you a megaphone and earplugs. Use them wisely.
---------------------------My Twitter Dream---------------------------
Alone, I walk into a crowded convention hall - people all around me are chatting amongst themselves, some in small circles. A few elite, like @chrisbrogan, @scobleizer, and @jowyang stand on podiums throughout the hall shouting into megaphones like high-tech, soap-boxing prophets. Thousands of people crowd around them nodding their heads at one another as if to say, "Yes, I agree, but needed to be told so."
To my right is @iJustine - spreading her iPhone bill across the crowd like the Blue Men Group toilet papering their audience. A bunch of lonely techies giggle like schoolgirls and shout compliments her way hoping to get some sort of @reply - although most of them seem happy enough just to be involved.
To my left stands @WholeFoods, tossing out recipe shwag. A pink @SocialVibe ball bounces in front of me and rests at my feet. "Lots of big and important things coming to www.SocialVibe.com this month," it says.
I kick it and accidentally hit @levarburton in the back. "OOh, a pink ball", he exclaims---obviously he's new here too.
Suddenly, a luminous cloud hovers over my head. I look up to find the @ShortyAwards whale bellowing out nominations. "@guykawasaki, you got a vote in the Shorty Awards Finals from @davidlwatts (and 47 others) in #business!", booms the whale.
"wtf?", I think to myself.
I make my way through the crowds of Tweeps passing business cards back and forth. I turn to my right and see @LisaBarone, @sugarrae, and @graywolf chatting. "Hi, what are you guys up to?", I ask.
They ignore me. I am dead to them.
I turn to my left and ask @NixTheNews, "Hey, how's it going?" Immediately he turns to me, laughs, and shouts "Congratulations, you are today's Top Tweeter".
"Cool", I think to myself.
Just then about 300 people turn to me and start yelling, "@AllenKelly you have been @Tweetbomb-ed!"
Little Yellow @Tweetbombs start to pour in from every direction. Even @iJustine turns her head to look at the commotion, but quickly turns back to her minions to hand out headshots.
Soon, random people start handing ME business cards, URLs to their blogs, coupon codes for @Zappos. I get DMs in sealed envelopes that read, "Thanks for the follow! Here's a gift - my free ebook!"
"Twitter is kind of cool", I think to myself.
"It sure is!", yells @NixTheNews.
Oops, I must have tweeted that aloud.
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6 comments:
Twitter "IS" kind of cool. You are so correct grasshopper. Very fun Twitter Dream, Allen.
Nick
Your dream is spot-on! I had a dream that tweets were like the commercial of AT&T Minutes - they never expire. So caution to all that join.
Interesting dream. It comes from an angle where I can tell you've never met the folks at hand. I say that because you'll note that Scobleizer talks back and forth with his crowd all the time, and doesn't just bullhorn. Justine the same.
I took your dream to be very pointed in a distinction between the "little people" and the "twitter elite," and it's just not a flavor that I believe in. Just go to any of those people's streams and you'll usually see a mix of statements (your bullhorns) and conversations (@ replies).
Overall, the dream sequence was an interesting expression, but I think it's written from ther perspective of someone who is fairly new to the party. Get to know us better, and you'll see the podiums are the dream.
Great story Allen. We're all learning how to work in a venue that has no eraser and has everyone listening ... or not listening ... at the same time. :)
Really think you should something about your dreams, though. :)
Thanks everyone for the comments. I truly value your opinions and I appreciate the time you took to read AND respond to my post.
Chris,
You're 100% correct. I am very new to Twitter and I have never met any of these people in person. I added in @Scobleizer at the last minute because I remembered that he has been referred to as a Top Tweeter - I didn't intend for the bullhorn/ podium Tweeters to have negative connotation. It was just a surreal interpretation of my personal interactions – or lack thereof in some cases.
iJustine is actually following me and I read her tastysnackblog occasionally to see what she is doing. She doesn't even use twitter that often (by some standards) - I mainly wanted to depict her random followers and what they might expect from a "celebrity" like her.
I am new to the party, but I plan to stick around because I really like everyone that I have interacted with so far. There are some brilliant and innovative people on Twitter. In the end, if I am one of the people that get the chance to just listen to the bullhorns, I will still consider my Twitter endeavors a success.
Thanks again - I hope to make a more positive impression in my next post.
a nice and laid back entry about twitter! by far my fav twitter post =)
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